Isaiah 48:17 Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

Have you ever seen a movie or television show where the detective is told to “Follow the money!”? The money trail leads you to the one paying for what happened. That’s how they connected President Nixon to the Watergate break in, the money trail.

There is within the Christian community a class of detectives who use the word profit to lead those who will listen down the money trail. “If you want to know which way to go, follow the money!” See it says so right there in Isaiah 48:17! But that isn’t what God is saying, is it!

The original Hebrew usage of profit meant to ascend on high, to rise above. Another way of looking at it is your call from God. You have an end which is meant for your good. Being on the path to that end is walking in God’s will. If one comes and distracts you as to that end, it is a waste of your time, and unprofitable.

John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

I think it is noteworthy that just 3 verse later in John 6, many of the disciples that heard this stopped following Jesus. Perhaps that is because they were looking for another profit.

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

I pray you profited from this word.

Psalm 143:10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

When I was young we had beagles for hunting. They were penned up outside. One cold wet morning after a night of snow, my dad told my brother to feed the dogs and then left for work. My brother prepared the bowls of food and water, because their water bowl was frozen. Then he tried handing them to me and said “Go feed the dogs.”

“Make me.”, was my response.

Now understand my brother was four years older and sixty pounds heavier than me. Making me do something was totally within his capability. I also knew that if the dogs got loose and ran off into the woods to hunt, which is their first great love, dad would be as mad at me as my brother. So getting a pounding from my brother was going to happen either way, but I could avoid my father’s wrath.

You might ask what does that story have to do with the opening verse? Fair enough. While doing God’s will is always the right thing, you will often find yourself coming up against opposition. Here the psalmist pleads with God to teach him to obey. It is not a natural act, it is a learned skill. Our tendency is towards self-protection. We see obstacles everywhere. Danger lurks at every corner. There is a cost for obedience.

This brings me to that second comparison, dad getting mad. My earthly father isn’t God, but my experience of how a father acts and reacts stems from my relationship with my dad. While he sets the model of father and son relationship, we are flawed men. My expectations of how God will react should not be based upon my father’s action if those actions are not consistent with God’s character. God the Father is perfect in performance. What can be learned from my father and son relationship is how I will react. I am still human and my reactions do not change all that much in my relationship with God.

If I fear my dad’s wrath, I will fear my heavenly Father’s wrath. If my motivation to obey my dad is love, then I will obey the Father from a position of love. If I know it is best to accept my dad’s punishments without excuse, then I will accept the chastening’s of the Father without complaint.